Re: [midatlanticretro] Any PCjr's left out there?

I have added all of my PC Jr. stuff to the march club online inventory. Bill D

Message 1 of 18
, Jan 11, 2006

0 Attachment

I have added all of my PC Jr. stuff to the march club online inventory.
Bill D

At 06:59 AM 1/11/2006 -0800, you wrote:

>Bill,
>
>Next time I'm down there in Jersey I need to come over to your house and poke
>around. If you see a jr sidecar with a row of DIP switches and a coax
>connector, please let me know!
>
>What would be a real find would be an ethernet adapter for the jr, but in all
>my research, I have not seen any reference to such a device from IBM or any
>third party (like 3Com).
>
>Jim
>
>--- "B. Degnan" <billdeg@...> wrote:
>
> > I have some side cars, and will check to see what I have. I doubt I have
> > the SCSI sidecar, but...
> > Bill D
> >
> >
> > At 12:12 AM 1/11/2006 +0000, you wrote:
> > >Hey all, new to the group here! What a nice thing to find a group in
> > >my "general" vicinity! (VA)
> > >
> > >I am an avid PCjr collector, and have a lot of great third party items
> > >that are odd and yet unique to the PCjr. One thing I would love to
> > >find, is one of the TMC 850jr SCSI sidecars! Anyone out there have any
> > >experience with them or have one?
> > >
> > >Brian
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >Yahoo! Groups Links
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

Brian Heise

Bill Saw you had a Speech adaptor in the listings. That is a really neat piece of hardware, especially giving the time it came out, and how purposely crippled

Message 2 of 18
, Jan 11, 2006

0 Attachment

Bill

Saw you had a Speech adaptor in the listings. That is a really neat piece of hardware, especially giving the time it came out, and how purposely crippled the jr was made to be. There are a few programs out there that uitilize the functionality of the sidecar as well as some homebrew programs from people I know that work at IBM...Cool history

Brian

"B. Degnan" <billdeg@...> wrote:

I have added all of my PC Jr. stuff to the march club online inventory.Bill D

At 06:59 AM 1/11/2006 -0800, you wrote:>Bill,>>Next time I'm down there in Jersey I need to come over to your house and poke>around. If you see a jr sidecar with a row of DIP switches and a coax>connector, please let me know!>>What would be a
real find would be an ethernet adapter for the jr, but in all>my research, I have not seen any reference to such a device from IBM or any>third party (like 3Com).>>Jim>>--- "B. Degnan" <billdeg@...> wrote:>> > I have some side cars, and will check to see what I have. I doubt I have> > the SCSI sidecar, but...> > Bill D> >> >> > At 12:12 AM 1/11/2006 +0000, you wrote:> > >Hey all, new to the group here! What a nice thing to find a group in> > >my "general" vicinity! (VA)> > >> > >I am an avid PCjr collector, and have a lot of great third party items> > >that are odd and yet unique to the PCjr. One thing I would love to> > >find, is one of the TMC 850jr SCSI sidecars! Anyone out there have any> > >experience with them or have one?> > >> >
>Brian> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >Yahoo! Groups Links> > >> > >> > >> > >> >> >> >>>>>>Yahoo! Groups Links>>>>

Brian, I used to have a PC Jr, but I gave it away x years ago. I picked up these items from the local thrift shop to either give away or when I came upon a

Message 3 of 18
, Jan 11, 2006

0 Attachment

Brian,
I used to have a PC Jr, but I gave it away x years ago. I picked up
these items from the local thrift shop to either give away or when I came
upon a system.

Let me know if you'd like to help test the inventory program by
contacting me directly.
Bill D

At 10:19 AM 1/11/2006 -0800, you wrote:

Bill

Saw you had a Speech adaptor in the listings. That is a really neat
piece of hardware, especially giving the time it came out, and how
purposely crippled the jr was made to be. There are a few programs
out there that uitilize the functionality of the sidecar as well as some
homebrew programs from people I know that work at IBM...Cool
history

Brian

"B. Degnan" <billdeg@...> wrote:

I have added all of my PC Jr. stuff to the march club online
inventory.

Bill D

At 06:59 AM 1/11/2006 -0800, you wrote:

>Bill,

>

>Next time I'm down there in Jersey I need to come over to your
house and poke

>around. If you see a jr sidecar with a row of DIP switches and a
coax

>connector, please let me know!

>

>What would be a real find would be an ethernet adapter for the
jr, but in all

>my research, I have not seen any reference to such a device from
IBM or any

>third party (like 3Com).

>

>Jim

>

>--- "B. Degnan" <billdeg@...> wrote:

>

> > I have some side cars, and will check to see what I
have. I doubt I have

> > the SCSI sidecar, but...

> > Bill D

> >

> >

> > At 12:12 AM 1/11/2006 +0000, you wrote:

> > >Hey all, new to the group here! What a nice thing to
find a group in

> > >my "general" vicinity! (VA)

> > >

> > >I am an avid PCjr collector, and have a lot of great
third party items

> > >that are odd and yet unique to the PCjr. One
thing I would love to

> > >find, is one of the TMC 850jr SCSI sidecars! Anyone out
there have any

In line with my previous posts of TMC850jr... I have a Racore Model 1521 HDD unit which is also causing me some heartache....I know I had this puppy working in

Message 4 of 18
, Jan 22, 2006

0 Attachment

In line with my previous posts of TMC850jr... I have a Racore Model 1521 HDD unit which is also causing me some heartache....I know I had this puppy working in late Dec 03 (I went to Iraq the following month and made two military moves since then)...but after unpacking and finding all the components...I only receive a "Racore Fixed Disk Error".....The unit is identical to the 2nd drive add-on kits made my Racore/Rapport/Legacy, but has its own PCB and ROM for booting the HDD...Pain in the rear......to put it lightly... Anyone have a users maunal stashed away in a collection somewhere?

Brian

Jim Scheef <jscheef@...> wrote:

Bill,

Next time I'm down there in Jersey I need to come over to your house and pokearound. If you see a jr sidecar with a row of DIP switches and a
coaxconnector, please let me know!

What would be a real find would be an ethernet adapter for the jr, but in allmy research, I have not seen any reference to such a device from IBM or anythird party (like 3Com).

Jim

--- "B. Degnan" <billdeg@...> wrote:

> I have some side cars, and will check to see what I have. I doubt I have > the SCSI sidecar, but...> Bill D> > > At 12:12 AM 1/11/2006 +0000, you wrote:> >Hey all, new to the group here! What a nice thing to find a group in> >my "general" vicinity! (VA)> >> >I am an avid PCjr collector, and have a lot of great third party items> >that are odd and yet unique to the PCjr. One thing I would love to> >find, is one of the TMC 850jr SCSI sidecars! Anyone out there have any> >experience with them or have one?> >> >Brian> >>
>> >> >> >> >> >Yahoo! Groups Links> >> >> >> >> > >

Yahoo! Photos
Got holiday prints? See all the ways to get quality prints in your hands ASAP.

Brian Heise

Ok...a quick reply to my own question of pain....but I checked EVERYTHING....over and over, but everything seemed to be hooked up the way I remembered. Then in

Message 5 of 18
, Jan 22, 2006

0 Attachment

Ok...a quick reply to my own question of pain....but

I checked EVERYTHING....over and over, but everything seemed to be hooked up the way I remembered. Then in an effort to calm my wife down over a pesky-loud power supply that would constantly "buzz" while plugged in, I finally changed it out. (This power supply was hooked into the main CPU, mind you, and worked to boot the jr up just minutes before)...After changing the power supply out, it was magic...the HDD unit worked... It seems that there might not have been enough juice getting to the main power board, which allowed it to boot ok, but caused power issues...or lack-thereof to other hardware...I'd never have thought it to be so simple of a fix...

Still....if someone has a users manual for Racore 1511/1521, a scan would be
greatly appreciated...

Also...In lines with VCF (My questions never cease...do they?)...I had an email conversation with a gentlemen about a year ago who said they sold a legacy floppy controller for the pcjr at a VCF which let the jr run a 1.44mb floppy drive....anyone heard or seen this before??? Must be a VERY rare option if it existed...

Brian

Brian Heise <nampcjr@...> wrote:

In line with my previous posts of TMC850jr... I have a Racore Model 1521 HDD unit which is also causing me some heartache....I know I had this puppy working in late Dec
03 (I went to Iraq the following month and made two military moves since then)...but after unpacking and finding all the components...I only receive a "Racore Fixed Disk Error".....The unit is identical to the 2nd drive add-on kits made my Racore/Rapport/Legacy, but has its own PCB and ROM for booting the HDD...Pain in the rear......to put it lightly... Anyone have a users maunal stashed away in a collection somewhere?

Brian

Jim Scheef <jscheef@...> wrote:

Bill,

Next time I'm down there in Jersey I need to come over to your house and pokearound. If you see a jr sidecar with a row of DIP switches and a coaxconnector, please let me know!

What would be a real find would be an ethernet adapter for the jr, but in allmy research, I have not seen any reference to such a device
from IBM or anythird party (like 3Com).

Jim

--- "B. Degnan" <billdeg@...> wrote:

> I have some side cars, and will check to see what I have. I doubt I have > the SCSI sidecar, but...> Bill D> > > At 12:12 AM 1/11/2006 +0000, you wrote:> >Hey all, new to the group here! What a nice thing to find a group in> >my "general" vicinity! (VA)> >> >I am an avid PCjr collector, and have a lot of great third party items> >that are odd and yet unique to the PCjr. One thing I would love to> >find, is one of the TMC 850jr SCSI sidecars! Anyone out there have any> >experience with them or have one?> >> >Brian> >> >> >> >> >> >> >Yahoo! Groups Links> >> >> >> >> > >

Yahoo! PhotosGot holiday prints? See all the ways to get quality prints in your hands ASAP.

Yahoo! Autos. Looking for a sweet ride? Get pricing, reviews, & more on new and used cars.

Evan

... they sold a legacy floppy controller for the pcjr at a VCF Brian, if anyone would know, it would be VCF owner Sellam Ismail -- who sometimes is on our list

Message 6 of 18
, Jan 22, 2006

0 Attachment

>>> I had an email
conversation with a gentlemen about a year ago who said they sold a legacy
floppy controller for the pcjr at a VCF

Brian, if anyone would know, it would be VCF owner
Sellam Ismail -- who sometimes is on our list here. Contact him at sellam@... and tell him I
sent you.

I checked EVERYTHING....over and
over, but everything seemed to be hooked up the way I remembered. Then in an
effort to calm my wife down over a pesky-loud power supply that would constantly
"buzz" while plugged in, I finally changed it out. (This power supply was hooked
into the main CPU, mind you, and worked to boot the jr up just minutes
before)...After changing the power supply out, it was magic...the HDD unit
worked... It seems that there might not have been enough juice getting to the
main power board, which allowed it to boot ok, but caused power issues...or
lack-thereof to other hardware...I'd never have thought it to be so simple
of a fix...

Still....if someone has a users
manual for Racore 1511/1521, a scan would be greatly
appreciated...

Also...In lines with VCF (My
questions never cease...do they?)...I had an email conversation with a gentlemen
about a year ago who said they sold a legacy floppy controller for the pcjr at a
VCF which let the jr run a 1.44mb floppy drive....anyone heard or seen this
before??? Must be a VERY rare option if it
existed...

Brian

Brian Heise
<nampcjr@...> wrote:

In line with my previous posts of TMC850jr... I have a Racore Model 1521
HDD unit which is also causing me some heartache....I know I had this puppy
working in late Dec 03 (I went to Iraq the following month and made two
military moves since then)...but after unpacking and finding all the
components...I only receive a "Racore Fixed Disk Error".....The unit is
identical to the 2nd drive add-on kits made my Racore/Rapport/Legacy, but has
its own PCB and ROM for booting the HDD...Pain in the rear......to put it
lightly... Anyone have a users maunal stashed away in a collection
somewhere?

Brian

Jim Scheef <jscheef@...>
wrote:

Bill,

Next
time I'm down there in Jersey I need to come over to your house and
pokearound. If you see a jr sidecar with a row of DIP switches and a
coaxconnector, please let me know!

What would be a real find
would be an ethernet adapter for the jr, but in allmy research, I have
not seen any reference to such a device from IBM or anythird party (like
3Com).

Jim

--- "B. Degnan" <billdeg@...>
wrote:

> I have some side cars, and will check to see what I
have. I doubt I have > the SCSI sidecar, but...> Bill
D> > > At 12:12 AM 1/11/2006 +0000, you wrote:>
>Hey all, new to the group here! What a nice thing to find a group
in> >my "general" vicinity! (VA)> >> >I am an
avid PCjr collector, and have a lot of great third party items>
>that are odd and yet unique to the PCjr. One thing I would love
to> >find, is one of the TMC 850jr SCSI sidecars! Anyone out there
have any> >experience with them or have one?> >>
>Brian> >> >> >> >>
>> >> >Yahoo! Groups Links> >>
>> >> >> > >

Yahoo! PhotosGot holiday prints? See
all the ways to get quality prints in your hands ASAP.

Yahoo!
Autos. Looking for a sweet ride? Get pricing, reviews, & more on new and
used cars.

Jim Scheef

Brian, BTW, thanks for joining MARCH! Welcome aboard. You may have found that PCjrs were made with two different power supplies. I believe the early jr s had a

Message 7 of 18
, Jan 22, 2006

0 Attachment

Brian,

BTW, thanks for joining MARCH! Welcome aboard.

You may have found that PCjrs were made with two different power supplies. I
believe the early jr's had a 45W supply while later units had a 65W supply. I
may not have the exact values correct, but you get the idea. The jr's power
supply is split between the power brick and the regulator card that sits
vertically inside the chassis. The larger power supply used a bigger power
brick to supply more juice to the more robust regulator circuity on the card.
These two parts should be matched.

Even the larger power supply could be overtaxed by adding extra side cars so
IBM sold a power expansion side car that also had a power brick. Does the
Racore HD expansion have a power supply with its own power brick? An early jr
barely had enough power for the floppy drive so adding a hard drive would
certainly demand additional power.

> Ok...a quick reply to my own question of pain....but
> I checked EVERYTHING....over and over, but everything seemed to be hooked
> up the way I remembered. Then in an effort to calm my wife down over a
> pesky-loud power supply that would constantly "buzz" while plugged in, I
> finally changed it out. (This power supply was hooked into the main CPU,
> mind you, and worked to boot the jr up just minutes before)...
> After changing the power supply out, it was magic...the HDD unit worked...
> It seems that there might not have been enough juice getting to the main
> power board, which allowed it to boot ok, but caused power issues...or
> lack-thereof to other hardware...
> I'd never have thought it to be so simple of a fix...
>
> Still....if someone has a users manual for Racore 1511/1521, a scan would
> be greatly appreciated...
>
> Also...In lines with VCF (My questions never cease...do they?)...I had an
> email conversation with a gentlemen about a year ago who said they sold a
> legacy floppy controller for the pcjr at a VCF which let the jr run a
> 1.44mb floppy drive....anyone heard or seen this before??? Must be a VERY
> rare option if it existed...
>
>
> Brian

Brian Heise

Jim Strange enough, the Racore has its own power source as well. Its a different one of sorts, as the power input connector to the chassis is a DB9 connector

Message 8 of 18
, Jan 23, 2006

0 Attachment

Jim

Strange enough, the Racore has its own power source as well. Its a different one of sorts, as the power input connector to the chassis is a DB9 connector instead of the standard IBM Power supply connector. So to accomplish this power hookup, I have a power sidecar with a power cable and 4 pin male connector wired, which then leads to a homebrew 4pin female to DB9 cable. Works good.

Now that I was successful in getting my HDD setup to work again, I wanted to to do a three tier system of purely Racore chassis drive systems. I put the HDD controller board on the second tier with the 3.5" drive in the drive slot and the HDD in the third tier and the HDD cables coming up from the controller board and hooked in....and the verdit is???? NOGO....

There seems to be something with the custom floppy controller card and the 10 pin signal cable that the
HDD system doesnt like. I dont have a list of the jumper settings for the controller board (why a users manual would be premiere...), so I think the only thing I really could do is to pull out one of my modded floppy controllers for a two-drive system out of the shed and make a new floppy cable to be able to reach to a third tier.. (whew! Alot of work for a simple drive addition!!) But always a fun learning experience...

Brian

Jim Scheef <jscheef@...> wrote:

Brian,

BTW, thanks for joining MARCH! Welcome aboard.

You may have found that PCjrs were made with two different power supplies. Ibelieve the early jr's had a 45W supply while later units had a 65W supply. Imay not have the exact values correct, but you get the idea. The jr's powersupply is split between the
power brick and the regulator card that sitsvertically inside the chassis. The larger power supply used a bigger powerbrick to supply more juice to the more robust regulator circuity on the card.These two parts should be matched.

Even the larger power supply could be overtaxed by adding extra side cars soIBM sold a power expansion side car that also had a power brick. Does theRacore HD expansion have a power supply with its own power brick? An early jrbarely had enough power for the floppy drive so adding a hard drive wouldcertainly demand additional power.

Jim

--- Brian Heise <nampcjr@...> wrote:

> Ok...a quick reply to my own question of pain....but> I checked EVERYTHING....over and over, but everything seemed to be hooked> up the way I remembered. Then in an effort to calm my wife down over a> pesky-loud power supply that would constantly "buzz" while plugged in, I>
finally changed it out. (This power supply was hooked into the main CPU,> mind you, and worked to boot the jr up just minutes before)...> After changing the power supply out, it was magic...the HDD unit worked...> It seems that there might not have been enough juice getting to the main> power board, which allowed it to boot ok, but caused power issues...or> lack-thereof to other hardware...> I'd never have thought it to be so simple of a fix...> > Still....if someone has a users manual for Racore 1511/1521, a scan would> be greatly appreciated...> > Also...In lines with VCF (My questions never cease...do they?)...I had an> email conversation with a gentlemen about a year ago who said they sold a> legacy floppy controller for the pcjr at a VCF which let the jr run a> 1.44mb floppy drive....anyone heard or seen this
before??? Must be a VERY> rare option if it existed...> > > Brian

Yahoo! Autos. Looking for a sweet ride? Get pricing, reviews, & more on new and used cars.

Degnan

Brian, I have a spare standard power supply if you need one. Bill D

Message 9 of 18
, Jan 23, 2006

0 Attachment

Brian,
I have a spare standard power supply if you need one.
Bill D

Brian Heise

Bill I dont think that ll be necessary. I have quite a lot of the power suppy cards. I received a large amount of them from Louie Levy from Eugene OR. He

Message 10 of 18
, Jan 23, 2006

0 Attachment

Bill

I dont think that'll be necessary. I have quite a lot of the power suppy cards. I received a large amount of them from Louie Levy from Eugene OR. He and his wife came out to IL where I was in school and he brought me a lot of what was left from the Eugene PCjr Club.... I think my biggest need is for manuals....they are out there somewhere, at the bottom of box deep in a basement or closet somewhere....just waiting for the moment to be brought out... :) Thanks though!!

Brian

Degnan <billdeg@...> wrote:

Brian,I have a spare standard power supply if you need one.Bill D

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go
to:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/midatlanticretro/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:midatlanticretro-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Yahoo! Photos
Got holiday prints? See all the ways to get quality prints in your hands ASAP.

Your message has been successfully submitted and would be delivered to recipients shortly.